Mubure back from Holland

Netherlands where he made a good impression while playing in the Professional Squash Association Tour.
Mubure (24) left the country towards the end of March this year to play squash in the Netherlands under that country’s national coach Sjef van der Eijden.
This came after Mubure had joined the Professional Squash Association at the beginning of the year, making him one of the few locals who have embraced squash as a sport on a full-time basis.
And during his three-month stay in the Netherlands, Mubure took part in more than 12 PSA Tour tournaments, winning one and reaching the quarter-finals of at least five of them.
Mubure said yesterday that he also learnt a lot during his three-month “sojourn” in Holland where he played under Dutch side, Squash Time, whose head coach is van der Eijden and are based in Eindhoven.
“In the Netherlands I played in more than 12 professional squash tournaments where I won one tournament and reached the last eight for at least five times.
“But it was not that easy because the guys are good (squash players) out there.
“They take their sport seriously and you really have to be at your best to beat them,” Mubure said.
He, however, said he was impressed by his overall performance during his three-month stay in the Netherlands where his training partner was Dylan Bennet, who is currently ranked 98th in the world.
“When I got there, at the beginning my world ranking was 368 but I rose to 355, which I think is not bad for a player who was just making his professional debut and coming from this part of the world.”
Mubure said he was likely to go back to the Netherlands in September, this time for a 10-month stay.
“If all goes according to plan, I’m expecting to go back to the Netherlands in September and take part in their season which runs from September to July.
“During my recent visit there, I was on a tourist visa but I’m now working at getting a working visa which will see me staying in the Netherlands for more than six months.
“If I go back there, I also intend to play in the professional league which is played once a week every month in Germany, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and in the Netherlands,” Mubure said.
The talented Zimbabwean player also said that he has already been offered accommodation by another Dutch club.
“In fact, there’s a Dutchman who was impressed by my play and he asked my to play and coach at his club while staying there.
“So, I only need to buy my own food as the other things will be taken care of by this guy at his club,” Mubure said.
Meanwhile, Mubure will be out to show local squash fans “a few tricks” that he learnt during his recent stay in the Netherlands when he takes part in the Mashonaland Closed Championships, starting from this Friday at Premier Belgravia Sports Club in Harare.
After competing in this weekend’s Mashonaland Closed tournament, Mubure also intends to travel to Bulawayo for the Zimbabwe Open at the Suburbs Squash Club the following weekend.
“There’s also the World Squash Championships that are set to be held in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, in October.
“I’m still deciding to play there as this competition attracts the world’s top 65 players but I can play in that tournament because one country must send at least one representative.
“This means that I can get one of the several wildcard-entries that are available for this tournament,” Mubure said.